TechNews AM - Technology news

New year, new round of diet programs... (Advertising Age / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:01:14 EST

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Players in the $60 billion U.S. weight-loss industry are doing all they can to insure that people will continue spending money to shed pounds with new ad campaigns and product offerings...

Obama bonanza as media milks inauguration... (Advertising Age / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:01:09 EST

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- No major media company will miss out on President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration as they swarm Washington, D.C., in hopes of cashing in on an otherwise bleak first quarter...

New-product pipeline clogged... (Advertising Age / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:01:09 EST

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Consumers are as receptive to new products during recessions as they are in good times, Procter & Gamble's Chairman-CEO A.G. Lafley told investors last month, citing data from Nielsen's Bases concept-testing service dating back to the early 1980s.

Wanted: $50 million to improve the image of detroits big three... (Advertising Age / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:01:05 EST

DETROIT (AdAge.com) -- With the blessing of automotive luminary Lee Iacocca, three car guys are knocking on doors in hopes of raising $50 million a year to fund a marketing push to save Detroit. But after a year of trying, the project to redeem the Big Three's image hasn't opened any portals.

Where to find the bright spots in 2009... (Advertising Age / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:01:02 EST

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- You've read the bad news, and no one's denying that it's grim, but surely there are some bright spots out there somewhere? Ad Age decided to go digging for some areas that might provide opportunities for the marketing and media industries to not only survive, but even thrive in 2009.

Fail fast: infrastructure & a startup funding manifesto... (Found READ / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:00:25 EST

Two-thousand eight will be remembered as a watershed year for many reasons, but two are of special interest to the startup community: the meltdown in the financial markets and the emergence of cloud computing. Tighter capital means investors will be more cautious, and startups can expect lower valuations. However, the growth of cloud computing provides [...]

Lucasfilms habitat... (Google Blogoscoped / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:51:02 EST

Lucafilm's Habitat from 1988 was an early experiment in creating an online social world. However, it turned out the program may have been ahead of its time, at least technology-wise. According to the book Rogue Leaders on the history of Lucasfilm games, the 500 users of the prototype ate up a full 1% of the system resources of partnering online provider QuantumLink. Consequently -- though the project was later licensed to others and also spun off successors and might have influen ...

Are we killing the planet one google search at a time?... (TechCrunch / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:30:28 EST

Right now the top stories on Techmeme revolve around a new piece in The Times that focuses on The Environmental Impact of Google Searches. In it, Physicist

Windows 7 gets installed on macbook pro, explained... (Engadget / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:51:00 EST

We've already seen an early version of Windows 7

The human equation: profits through people... (Venture Hacks / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:49:45 EST

From The Human Equation: “Seven dimensions that seem to characterize most if not all of the systems that produce profits through people. Employment security. Selective hiring of new personnel [especially screening for attributes that cannot be taught such as attitude and cultural fit.] Self-managed teams and decentralization of decision making as the basic principles of organizational design...

Ces 2009 north hall tour: like hot import nights minus the tire smoke... (Engadget / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:28:00 EST

We may not have covered too many products in the North Hall at this year's CES, a mecca for vehicle customizers and their wares, but that's mainly because we have a hard time keeping up with the latest in LED and hydraulic technologies as applied to motorized pursuits...

Thank you for making the night of crunchies fun... (GigaOm / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:23:17 EST

It has taken me a full day to recoup from the Crunchies 2008 and the associated festivities. Silicon Alley Insider, TechCrunch and Venturebeat along with had jointly organized the event, now in its second year, that recognized startups, entrepreneurship and technology in 16 categories. A party in the City Hall rotunda followed the awards [...]

Koolus android-equipped freerunner hands-on... (Engadget Mobile / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:59:00 EST

Filed under: Handsets, Features, Others, Android

Should tech blogs shut up about twitter?... (Mashable / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:35:14 EST

Twitter this. Tweet that. And every day, hoards of new applications plugging into the micro-messaging service. Twitter, clearly, is the next big thing in social networking. Like any growing trend, it attracts lots of buzz, and extensive coverage on sites like Mashable (see our Twitter archive for hundreds of examples). And yet, do we detect an imminent backlash? Do comments like those above, pulled from social news site Digg (and numerous other complaints we see in our comments) suggest that bloggers have let our Twitter infatuation spiral out of control? If not, why do you think Twitter has been able to garner such a massive amount of coverage? And if so, which topics would you rather see bloggers focusing their energies on? In short: should tech blogs, including this one, shut up about Twitter?

Ibiza rumble prototype hands-on: a touchscreen pmp with rhapsody, webkit browser... (Engadget / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:31:00 EST

Behind closed doors at the Haier booth, we got a chance to check out two Ibiza Rhapsody PMP prototypes, codenamed Rumble and Rumble mini...

More numbers show that apple sold a whole bunch of ipod touches during the holidays... (CrunchGear / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:00:57 EST

Numbers from two online firms show that iPod touch usage “exploded” on Christmas day. That's a roundabout way of saying that Apple must have sold a ton of the things during the holidays.

Video: viliv s7 hands on and vaio p comparo... (Engadget / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:33:00 EST

As promised, we've made a run over to check out Viliv's forthcoming S7 netbook tablet, bringing along the ever-popular

Google helping bloggers with data portability... (ReadWriteWeb / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:30:59 EST

Want to move your blog to another publishing platform? Well now Google has made it easier for you. Last Friday, the Data Liberation Team announced the Google Blog Converters project on their

Cartoon: #obsessingoverfollowers... (ReadWriteWeb / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:24:25 EST

If there's one proven winner in the online world, it's finding a way to digitally enable pathological, obsessive behavior. Witness Qwitter, which I installed and removed within less than 24 hours. Not because the site's poorly designed - it's lovely. And not because the service doesn't work as advertised - but because the service works exactly as advertised: when someone stops following you on Twitter, Qwitter lets you know...

Bell goes pro with sanyo pro 200 and 700... (Engadget Mobile / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:21:00 EST

Filed under: Cellphones, Handsets, Sanyo, Bell Mobility, EV-DO,

Collegewikis becomes regroup - providing groups for college students... (CenterNetworks / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:17:33 EST

NY-based CollegeWikis has announced a name change this weekend to Regroup. The company notes, "The name Regroup underscores our commitment to your groups, and everything you find at Regroup is focused around the group concept...

How to: download your twitter archive... (Mashable / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:10:57 EST

We thought Twitter search engine TweetScan had faded into irrelevance after competitor Summize was acquired by Twitter last summer. Not so: today we discovered a little-known (but long-standing) feature of the service that’s incredibly useful. With a database reaching back to December 2007, TweetScan allows you to download your Twitter archive at a page called

Ces: does the future of tv lie in gesture-based control?... (VentureBeat / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:00:13 EST

Gesture recognition is one of the most exciting new technologies at the International Consumer Electronics Show this week. A variety of companies — inspired by the Nintendo Wii’s gesture control and the iPhone’s multi-touch screen — developing new ways to interact with gadgets. Hand, arm or finger gestures — like waving your arms around in [...]

So how’s that windows 7 beta treating you?... (CrunchGear / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:44:57 EST

So how's that Windows 7 beta treating you? Even if you've had issues—and we know that some of you have—you should know that Microsoft is trying to make this whole experience

The letters say it all... (Paul Isakson / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:38:00 EST

Inspired by a recently posted TED video of a presentation from John Maeda and remembering how he came to see "MIT" in the words "complexity" and "simplicity," I came to the conclusion that it's no wonder social media is full of so many shameless self-promoters. The words themselves contain two "I's" and a "me."This also reminds me of three interesting posts I've come across in the last two weeks:Who Isn't A New Media Strategist? - by Mitch Joel, Six Pixels of SeparationCrystal Gazification: SoMe Thoughts - by Sam Ismail, An International SmoothieIs social media the same as marketing? - by Beth Harte, The Harte of Marketing

Altsearchengines second annual conference... (Alt Search Engines / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:30:23 EST

The Second Annual AltSearchEngines Conference will be held on Monday, March 30th in San Francisco. As we did last year, it is the Monday prior to the Web2.0 Expo, so all you need to do now is plan to arrive on Sunday, unless you live nearby, of course. Our get together is not affiliated with [...]

Tesla revs up more powerful roadster sport: starts at $128,500... (Engadget / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:10:00 EST

Don't even bother with that BRABUS overhaul, as you can now get a

Zune to live forever? ... (Silicon Alley Insider / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:07:00 EST

Friday's report in the Financial Times that Microsoft (MSFT) may be on the verge of finally terminating the Zune has rattled some neves...

Web infrastructure and a startup funding manifesto... (GigaOm / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 12:00:25 EST

Asus eee top touchscreen pc zombie hands-on... (Engadget / TechNews AM)

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:31:00 EST

It looks like ASUS is about to carve out another unexpected niche for itself with its Eee Top all-in-one PC. The 15.6-inch touchscreen coupled with ASUS' touch-friendly user interface (riding an XP / Atom N270 underpinning) and industrial design definitely looked and felt like a winner...